ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Rays outfielder Randy Arozarena did a lot of things well in his first full season in the majors.
Monday, he was rewarded for his performance, voted American League Rookie of the Year by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, with teammate Wander Franco finishing third. Houston pitcher Luis Garcia was second.
Arozarena is the fourth Rays player to win the top rookie award in the last 14 years, joining third baseman Evan Longoria (2008), pitcher Jeremy Hellickson (2011) and outfielder Wil Myers (2013).
Arozarena, 26, followed up his record-smashing 2020 postseason performance with a solid overall season, hitting a major-league rookie best .274 with 20 homers, 69 RBIs, 94 runs scored, 32 doubles, 20 steals and an .815 OPS, logging five assists, making on error and getting a WAR rating of 4.2, according to baseball-reference.com. He was a finalist for Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards.
He became the third player in Rays history with a 20-homer/20-steal season, and just the 11th rookie to do so since Major League Baseball defined rookie status in 1958. He
Arozarena beat out Franco, the multi-talented 20-year-old shortstop, who had an impressive showing but played in only 70 games, and Garcia, the right-hander who was 11-8 with a 3.48 ERA in 30 games (28 starts) for the American League West champs.
Franco, ranked the game’s top prospect for two years, was called up from Triple-A June 22 and needed a few weeks to get settled, then lived up to the hype, hitting .288 overall with seven homers, 39 RBIs, 53 runs and an .810 OPS, and had an 43-game on-base streak. From the All-Star break on, he led AL rookies with a .314 average, 69 hits and 45 runs, and he struck out only three times in his last 97 plate appearances.
The lack of games played was an issue for Franco. Only one position player has won a rookie of the year award in either league playing fewer than 87 games over a full season, and that was in 1959 when the Giants’ Willie McCovey did after playing in 52 of 154. Astros outfielder/DH Yordan Alvarez won in 2019 playing in 87 games; Rays outfielder Wil Myers won in 2013 playing in 88.
Award voting is based on regular-season performance, with votes from two BBWAA members in each league city cast before the start of the playoffs.
The Reds’ Jonathan India won NL Rookie of the Year honors, beating out Marlins left-handed pitcher Trevor Rogers and Cardinals outfielder Dylan Carlson.
Tampa Bay’s Kevin Cash is a finalist for the American League Manager of the Year award to be announced Tuesday.
